Only Your Hairdressor Knows For Sure

I love my Knoxville hairdresser.  Jodie, or "Ms. Jodie", as the girls and I usually refer to her, has been cutting my hair since...hmmmm.... was I pregnant with Emily,?or was Emily a baby?  (Oh no, I'm starting to forget anciant history too!)  Anyway, I remember Jodie waited patiently with me for Emily to get hair, ('please, God, just a little hair?'). She was so bald! For so long!  I lovingly nicknamed her '"Uncle Fester", in homage to the  shiny-headed, plump-faced  character  on the "Adam's Family"  whom she resembled.   (Sorry , Emily, I know you think I didn't have to record that, but we have pictures already, and pictures don't lie.)  Anyway, Jodie has taken care of our families' hair for a LONG time.  Jodie gave Emily her first haircuts. We still reminisce about how magical it was to cut away at her wispy white locks and, afterwards, look on the floor and on her shoulders and see no evidence.  So pale and gossamer thin was her hair, it just seemed to vaporize.  'Like an angel's hair',  I would sigh and think...... then again, never mind!  This is the same child I ALSO nick-named "Tempy" because of her wicked temper. 

Jodie also began cutting Erin's hair as a child.  We even had a "Glamour Birthday" hair and nails party at Jodie's salon when Erin was maybe 7 (or 9?  Erin will have to correct me and remind me.  Those old photos are in storage!)  At some pont even  Bill joined the Jodie fan club and she had the whole family locked in.  When Ellysa came along, Jodie got to experience a whole 'nother category of hair.  Once Elly's "Don King" hairstyle finally laid down, Jodie's was the only chair that Elly wanted to sit it.

Yes, Jodie has been keeping Groh hair gorgeous for nearly 2 decades!   For those of you who can think of times when my hair has been "less than" beautiful, let me say for the record that this was NEVER Jodie's fault.  I must confess I am not the most disciplined client in any matters of beauty.  Over the years, I stretched a haircut, a color, a highlight, a perm, FAR beyond it's natural life !  Jodie would say, "See you in  __ weeks!" and I would return in double that time, looking frizzy, moppy, multi-colored.  But Jodie always did what she could with a less than cooperative subject.

One of the last things I did before leaving Knoxville to move to China August  3rd was get a haircut and color treatment.  I asked Jodie to work a(nother) miracle and give me a style and color that would last as long as possible.  Then, knowing that  even I could not go ten months without visiting a salon,  I asked Jodie to write down the secret recipe for my current hair color.  She lovingly oblidged and, after hugs and tears, I left Jodie behind until the summer of  2010.  Which brings me to, to borrow a line from Paul Harvey, ...."the rest of the story" .

I have conquered my fears and overcome my dependency on Ms. Jodie.  I have been to Shekou's salon of choice for ex-pats, "The Tonan" Salon !  After asking new acquaintances met via the women's club and school events, I bravely walked up the spiral stairs and asked for "Leo".  Leo, I was told, cut a lot of "Western" hair (don't think 'Annie Oakley'; think NOT asian).  On my first visit, Leo studied Jodie's notes and consulted his "Book of Hair".  Every salon has at least one of these cookbooks for hair ; it contains all the  samples of various colored locks of hair, sorted in descending hues, that the salon's brand of colorant can concoct.  In his broken english and my completely severed mandarin, we pointed and nodded and agreed on a (Loreal brand) tone that equated to Jodie's (Wella Brand) equation.  I also worked hard to make him understand that I was "growing my hair out" ,"only wanted a T-R-I-M", "a little bit", "not too much", "keeping L-O-N-G", hoping that one of those words or phases was part of his limited vocabulary.  I was nervous through the entire process.  I kept recalling what my Mom, a hairdressor herself, used to joke to her customers: "Do you know the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut?......."Two weeks."   I sat with the gloppy mix of color on my head, glancing at Leo, wondering how long he was going to let me "process" and wondering all along: What is the difference between a good dye job and a bad one?"  But, after about 2.5 hours I left a with a perky brownish/goldish/auburnish color that seemed close to what Jodie had achieved in the past.  Like Jodie, Leo styled my hair into a sleek, chic look that I knew I would never have the time or talent to reproduce, but I felt good. 
More than 8 weeks have passed , and I need to see Leo again.  He has cut Emily's hair and Erin's too but he was too busy the other day when I stopped by with Ellysa.  Bill is being stubborn, seeing a very cheap barber who gave him, let's just say, a lot of haircut for the money."  I'll write more later about the China phenomonon called "Going For A Hair Wash". 

If you like your hairdressor, let him/her know it!  You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

(This post is dedicated to Jodie, whom I will always love (even if Leo can mix color).  I like a hair dressor I can chit chat with.  One who knows a little harmless gossip.  One who agrees with my ideas to solve the world's problems.  One who keeps candy in a jar for my daughters. One who prays for me and my family.  One who has known me for .....well... for a long time, and loves ME anyway! )